Kudnarto

Chapter 14 ~ Farming the Land

After the Adams family finally settled upon their new licensed allotment land they set about building their residence. It was essential to do so quickly since they were occupying their land in the middle of winter. The location of Skillogolee Creek ensured that the area was swept with bitterly cold rain and wind.

In keeping with the times their first hut would have been quite primitive. They may have erected either a canvas tent or a wodli to provide temporary shelter and live in. If their first place of residence was a tent, which is likely, they would have cut timber slabs and placed them outside the tent walls to give some protection against the elements. This would have served well until the proper hut had been constructed.

Since Adams was a carpenter, he was capable of devoting himself to constructing a solid hut. This he did. In the end, the hut they eventually built had pine log walls with the internal and external walls rendered with cement. This would have given the walls a strong, water proof quality. Inside, the hut was divided into two rooms, a bedroom and a living area. [1] The floor was made of beaten earth elevated above the ground level to prevent flooding or ponding. To break its austere appearances, they would have covered the earth with hessian bags. Internal walls would be covered with a wall paper made from old newspapers. Adams made the roof out of thatch which he gathered from hay grown around the area.

The house itself was rather small. Its dimensions were 3.42 metres wide and 7.25 metres long. They sited the hut some 79 metres from the road, parallel to the creek on a North West to South East axis. [2] The location was marvellous as they completed their hut near the waterfall. [3] The door was added more for keeping out the wind than any unfriendly people. It was customary for the Adams family to keep the door open most of the time. [4] On the night of 24 July 1850 Adams was sitting by the fire in his house when John Yates arrived. Yates called out as to whether he could get a light for his pipe. Adams replied that he was welcome to get a light from his fire. Yates left his bundle by the door and walked in. At no stage was there a knock on the door or was the door ever mentioned. Since this was in the middle of winter, one can reasonably assume that the door was rarely ever closed. It would have also been Kudnarto's influence which gave the family a strong belief in sharing hospitality with strangers. They seemed to be coming and going without anyone being turned away. [5]

Inside the furniture would have been frugal but functional. Adams' wood working skills would have been sufficient to construct some of the items of furniture such as the bed. Other items would have been purchased second hand. Items like the table and chairs would have come from second hand sources. At one side of the room, they bought a sofa that was big enough for a person to sleep on. [6] By a side wall, opposite the door was a fire hearth. [7] The reason relates to the Aboriginal love of fireplaces. The best location within the hut for a traditional fire was the at the side. This gave plenty of room to lie around it. Hanging on the ceiling were the few cast iron pots, pans and skillets. Nearby would be a dresser with a mirror and a bucket for water. Since the creek was close by, there wasn't a great need to store large amounts of water. Put together, the hut gave the Adams family a comfortable place to live.

Since it was the middle of winter, planting crops would have been out of the question. They had missed the growing season for a year. Thus it would take two years before they would be able to harvest. If he was diligent, he would have planted a vegetable garden. To supplement their protein and vegetable food resources, both Adams and Kudnarto would have foraged over the countryside. They would have caught the occasional kangaroo, emu or goanna. Kudnarto's tracking skills would have assisted greatly in supplementing their food resources.

At this time, the reality of occupation began to force itself upon Adams. He may well have understood that the occupation of the land was dependant upon Kudnarto but feeling it as a practical reality places it in a new dimension. When no effort or emotion is expended, it is easy to agree to a situation. However, when an investment in sweat and love occurs, the proposition takes on a new meaning. So too did it do so for Adams.

Very soon after settling upon the land, Adams commenced brooding over his lot. His understanding of Kudnarto's role in securing the grant became only too apparent. Adams felt very resentful of this situation. To discuss his feelings, Adams framed a letter to Mr Boyle Travis Finniss, the Colonial Treasurer and Registrar General, on 22 July 1848, [8] exploring the implications of Kudnarto's role in securing Section 346. He used the example death. Within his letter, he wished to know where he stood should Kudnarto pass away. In this enquiry, he mused about the recovery of any investment he placed in the land should he have no proper title over the land.

Finniss was very careful in framing his reply. Understanding the importance of his reply and its implications, Finniss restated the terms of the Licence. Had he said anything else which gave Adams the impression that he may be able to inherit the land, the relative safety of Kudnarto would have to be questioned. The tying of death with inheritance would give encouragement to a devious person to hasten the death of the Licensee. Finniss' reply displays an understanding of this for he ignores the issues raised by Adams in relation to his personal investment. Finniss' reply implicitly told Adams that he was tied to Kudnarto regardless of his desires for outright ownership.

The writing of the letter raises suspicions as to the purpose of the enquiry. Since the speaking about death was taboo to an Aborigine, [9] it would be doubtful that Adams ever consulted Kudnarto about the letter and its contents. It seems that Kudnarto also followed the traditional Aboriginal practice of women who defer to their husbands. Thus she would never have undertaken any action on her own behalf.

Adams, in his letter, already foreshadowed the difficulty of clearing an allotment. The work was wearing him down. It appears that he went into the enterprise without full knowledge of the enterprise nor did he understand the costs involved in farming. On 3 September 1848 he was already complaining to Moorhouse and Finniss about the huge expense involved in establishing a farm. Even though he had made a resolution to buy a "good outfit with his savings" [10] it appears that he was short of money after a few months farming.

Adams says:

Skylogolee creek 3 september 1848

Sir,

I seake leberty of Agean Adressing you i receved your plan of The section And ham leving on it But i find it verry Expensiff To Me for The hiere of Bullaks And dray i was Thingen of sending To The New governer for sum Assistance if it wos onley The Lone of sum Bullaks And dray for A Time it wold Be A great help To me And if you would have the kindness To spake in Behalf of My wife i should Teake it as A great faver But however if i get No Assistance i Must leve The Section for i Must go where The work is you say in your Letter that i ham Not Aloud To Let Aney of it But it is Not My which to Let Aney of it if i can get on with out it But i have got A verey poor chance for it would choust Me seventy or Ehighty poinds To fence it in But i could do All the work My selief if i could get Bullaks And dray But if Aney Thing happened To My wife Acordng To your Letter gorvement could clame it Agen And propes Me get Nothing of it plese To drekit To Me kerconda Skyloglee creek.

i Reman yours obedent
servent
Thos Adamus

In his letter Adams stated that he wanted to erect a fence. The cost of using contractors was prohibitive. The quotation he received from the contractors indicated that it would cost him £80. To resolve this matter, he wanted to procure bullocks and a dray since hiring them was very expensive. Unfortunately he didn't have the money to effect the purchase and thus sought help from the Governor for financial assistance to buy the bullocks and dray. In this manner, Adams reasoned, he could erect the fences himself. [11] His request appears rather ambitious and the inevitable reply of rejecting the request followed.

However, in dealing with his commitment to being a cultivator of the soil on his own account, his letter is disturbing. Adams states, in the first part of letter, that if he doesn't get assistance from the Governor, he will be forced to leave the land and obtain employment elsewhere and, "go where the work is.". [12] A little further on in the letter he expresses reservations about investing any energy or time on this selection for he reasons that he would not benefit from it should his wife die. [13] This displays an apparent churlish attitude towards the nature of his grant. The conditions for him to settle on the land were spelled out in great detail by Moorhouse, and yet, only three months after settling upon the allotment, he complains that he will not benefit from any improvements that he put on the land. Early in the piece, Adams was already showing a distinct disinterest in working for something that didn't give him an enduring benefit.

Again, as with his letter of 22 July 1848, in this letter, Adams raises the proposition about Kudnarto's death. This constant repetition about a future death of Kudnarto causes a bit of unease about his thoughts concerning his wife. It is a topic that keeps coming up in his writing to the various authorities. It is difficult to understand this fixation considering Kudnarto was young and healthy.

In reply to this request, Moorhouse dealt only with the issue of the bullock dray rather than the other darker issues. He sent the following letter:

"In reply to your communication to be supplied with a team of bullocks by the government to enable you to fence the section upon which Mary Adams has permission to settle, I have to state that your application was duly forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor and His Excellency declined granting your request." [14]

Despite these dark thoughts, life for the Adams family fell into a normal rural rhythm. Concurrent with Adams' last letter in the month of September, Kudnarto also became pregnant. On 19 June 1849, Kudnarto gave birth to her first son to survive. There is no record of miscarriage or death on birth and thus it must be assumed that Thomas junior was the first child born to Kudnarto who survived. In keeping with the age, there was a horrific attrition rate among children and thus it is not unreasonable to assume that Kudnarto may have had other children prior to the survival of Thomas junior. [15] They named him Tom after his father.

The process of giving birth for a Kaurna woman is well described by Meyer. He gives the following narration:

"When a woman is near her confinement she removes from the encampment with some of the women to assist her. As soon as the child is born the information is conveyed to the father, who immediately goes to see the child and attends upon the mother, by carrying firewood, water &c." [16]

While there is no mention of a mid wife, there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that her delivery was assisted by some Aboriginal women friends.

There was at least one woman in the region she befriended. This was the Aboriginal woman living with George Murray, a shepherd who lived not far away in Watervale. Murray and Adams knew each other well enough. During the time the Adams lived at Skillogolee Murray married his defacto wife [17] on 14 May 1849. [18] After the marriage, Murray sought to obtain a selection of land in her name. Moorhouse, mindful of the friendship, suggested that he share the land around Skillogolee Creek implying that he would be close to the Adams family. [19] Taking his cue from the approval of Moorhouse, Adams assisted Murray select Section 3055 of about 80 acres of land some three kilometres from his own land. [20]Back to text

After the birth of his new son, Adams again expressed great concern about his future and property should Kudnarto die. This time he used the services of a letter writer to write directly to the Governor. In the letter, he says:

Skillogolee Creek July 22/49

Your Excellency,

I beg to inform Your excellency that I have permission from Mr Moorhouse to settle on Section 346 in Skillogolee Creek during the natural life of my wife. I have now one child by her which I beg to know within this section in my case my wife should die will fall to the children as I have no authority to occupy this section but for the term of her natural life and I wish to know from Your Excellency whether I have any permission to make any improvements on the section in case of her death. I wish to be informed whether I can still retain the same. [21]

In reply to this letter, BT Finniss wrote back to Adams [22] restating the nature of the lease when he said:

14 August 1849

Thomas Adams

Your letter of 22 nd July, in which you enquire whether in the event of your wife's death the Aboriginal Reserve No. 346 which you are allowed to occupy during her life will fall to her children, having been laid before the Lieutenant Governor, I am directed to inform you in reply that the terms on which the licence to occupy the section in question was originally granted to you, will be adhered to - which terms were intended to protect your wife from chances of dessertion by you, and with the understanding that there might be a renewal in favour of her children in case of her death.

Again, Adams is expressing his morbid fixation. The exertions of farming did nothing to relieve his notion of Kudnarto's impending death. Maybe her health wasn't the best and she seemed too fragile in stature to give confidence that she would survive for very long. The Governor turned his request down [23] and the couple were forced to use whatever they had to farm the land. Despite this, life ground on.